It’s no secret that our culture represses sexuality. So it’s no surprise that after years of harvesting repressed sexual emotions, one might find that they quite literally flow out of you. Especially when you are doing something that is meant to open you up, like for instance while practicing your asanas.

The mula bandha, or the root-lock, is one of three interior locks in Yoga. Physically it is almost the same thing as a kegel exercise for a woman, but with guidance from your instructor, coupled with specific breathing patterns, slow breathing patterns, you may find yourself experiencing some kind of arousal. Over time, these types of exercise can enable a woman to not only control her orgasms, but the level of their intensity can increase as well.

Enter the Yogasm. That’s right, women are claiming, much more frequently and openly now than they have in the past, to have full blown orgasms during their Yoga practice. While rumors of the Yogasm have run rampant for years, recently the discussion has become the topic du jour.

Sex therapists are also closing in on the phenomenon. “It’s another way a woman can bring herself to orgasm without touching herself”, claims sexologist Dr. Jeffre TallTrees.

In fact many women claim to have the elusive Yogasm during their Bikram Yoga, or Hot Yoga Classes. Bikram Yoga is done for ninety minutes, in a room heated to a minimum of one hundred and five degrees Fahrenheit, and a twenty six position cycle is performed in that time frame. You are heating and stretching the body.

According to BikramYoga.com this heated exercise makes your oxygenated blood move systematically to one hundred percent of your body, into each and every organ. You build pressure and cut off blood supply. When the pressure is released it creates a “lock-gate” effect, and the blood comes rushing back. For some participants these effects, remember they are happening in each and every part of the body, cause females to have orgasms. Especially during “feel-sexy” poses, like the camel pose.

An anonymous woman in NYC spoke to the Daily Beast about her recent Yogasm during class. She says “I was in lotus pose, focusing on breathing, and lifting the muscles of my pelvic floor,” it was then that her instructor came over and pressed his body against her back to better synchronize his breathing with hers. “I was tingling all over”.

This story makes sense, it had a lot to do with outside stimulation. The true phenomenon, I think, occurs when climax is reached working all by yourself. It’s an extremely personal thing that occurs, and the possibility of it happening doesn’t seem too far fetched, especially if you feel sexy during practice. You are all loose and sweaty, and Yoga is extremely graceful. Even when you are sitting and concentrating like the woman mentions above, added to the concentration of the pelvis, or the mula bandha and hello, of course it’s possible.

For all of you male Yogis out there don’t feel bad. While an in class orgasm may not be possible for you, you are surely reaping the sexual benefits as well. Even though men don’t have kegal muscles, the true key to practicing mula bandha is to “isolate the perineum, a crucial area of sexual pleasure for women and men”, says Allan Finger, founder of I.S.H.T.A (Integrated Science of Hatha, Tantra, and Ayurveda) Yoga. “When a man draws his sexual energy in and up toward his navel, he increases his ability to prolong his stamina in the bedroom”.

Of course there are many skeptics out there, who question the validity of the Yogasm, but I think it’s real. Yoga improves your life in all aspects, why not this one as well. Though it may still be a bit taboo to talk about, that doesn’t mean it is not true.

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Jennifer Cusano

Jennifer Cusano, social media aficionado, research connoisseur, and writer du jour, is a Yogi on a path of personal exploration and long overdue healing. Managing Editor for YOGANONYMOUS, Producer for Where Is My Guru, Director of Social Media for YOGASCAPES and TumericALIVE, wife and mother of three, Jenn is really a superhero in disguise—or so she likes to think. In her spare time Jenn likes to read about and search for vampires, so if you happen to know or come across one, please do send them her way. Hit her up on Facebook or Twitter to discuss the various methods of tracking down said vampires. Also she is more than a little uncomfortable writing about herself in the third person, it may just be the hardest thing she's had to do, and that's saying something...

This is very cool. I've never had an orgasm during yoga, but camel pose (and really any backbends, hip openers, chest openers) do feel incredibly sexy at times. I guess it's a reason to commit to daily asana;)

This is the second article I’ve read in just a few days about this. Universal unconscious I guess…. Actually, I learned that mula bandha and kegels are slightly different…mula bandha being more focused on lifting the perineal area. Not a huge difference I guess but I definitely remember a distinction. No, I never had a spontaneous orgasm during yoga ( although Nautilis machine, yes, and so, so close during ballet rehearsal once. But then, like you said, squeeze those muscles a few times and that’s it. (Actually I learned this when I was 14 …before learning about mula bandha or kegels.

Ok, first of all, it's a "Kegel exercise" (named after Dr. Arnold Kegel), not a "kegal." And of course men do have these so-called Kegel muscles as well. The pubococcygeus muscle exists for both men and women, and is part of the levator ani group that forms the pelvic floor.

Why’s everyone so desperate to have orgasm? Especially during yoga class. What a hassle! Anyway. What’s the big deal? People have been having orgasms for years. Seems like a desparate bid by studios suffering financialy to fill classses by offering people yogasms in class. Next thing you”ll be getting weekend workshops on this. Hahahaahaha.

Interesting topic. Begs a few questions- how do you define orgasm? What is mula bandha- it is not the same as a Kegel- mula bandha in women is a associated with the neck of the cervix. A Kegel is way of engaging all the vaginal muscles. Just lifting everything from the waist down for all it is worth is definitely not going to increase sexual pleasure. However, learning how to engage pelvic floor muscles in different combinations and different positions definitely can lead to arousal- and should! Victorian definitions and constructions of sexuality combined with Hindu repulsion toward the physical has led to a complete absence of genitalia in the yoga room. We know where our head of the arm bone is but no one wants to talk about the clit being stimulated in janusirsasana B. The example of the student with her teacher brushing against her is ill-placed I think, and detracts from what could be a really interesting discussion. Awakening of kundalini is available in all positions, at all times not just in yoga, but the spinal movements in yoga as well as the potential to shake free blocked energy increases the orgasmic potential.

Orgasm is what you don’t want as a yogi. This topic is not discussed in the tradition for specific reasons. Suffice to say it leads to depression. Ayurveda says that if one observes the period following orgasm it is during this time that most relationships and marriages tend to break down. The attitude in tantra is ‘that on which the body falls is used by the body to lift itself’. So using this principal the yogi uses that through which consciuosness apparently ‘falls’ – the body- to lift himself up.

I have found Yoga classes to be very arousing. Particularly with finding deep relaxation in the beginning of class building up to more and more stimulating poses with the group building together in strong Ujjayi breathing. This can be an interesting place to find an edge, or to pay attention to sensations. I have felt rapture, shakti,tingles, or raw emotional energy at times as boundaries are explored and dissolved. Although, I have been told that sensation is what we strive for in yoga, finding rapture is just the beginning. Often diamond will is needed to keep from dissociating or “losing it.” And as our awareness penetrates deeper we may find the more subtle realms of the boundless dimension, and divine love, which typically involves a realized teacher for guidance.

Love this article, but I do believe men can experience them too. It's all about open the nadis (energy channels) and chakras (energy centers) throughout the body. A combo or breath, yoga poses, mediations and deep relaxation and voila! Anyone can have an orgasm in class! LOL!

I don't think I need to have orgasms IN class, but I do think that yoga can be better if you have just made love, you glow during the whole class (although you scampered and almost ran over a pedestrian to get there on time 😉 I, too, have had orgasms in sleep, so I think it's possible in class, but I would rather concentrate on the yoga than wish for the "yogasm" bonus! However, at the times when I have a lover in my life (not currently – it is a great way to get ramped up for activity AFTER class. Hell, we ALL know yoga is sexy and makes you feel great! Namaste, baby……..

“When a man draws his sexual energy in and up toward his navel, he increases his ability to prolong his stamina in the bedroom”. I love how this statement is meant as a bone throw to men but in actuality ends up meaning the possibility of even more orgasms for women. Tis a sad fact that this is probably never going to be a balanced game since mother nature gave us different sets of plumbing with different physical agendas.

[…] on a regular basis. I love dhanurasana (bow pose) for the way it opens my chest and shoulders. Ustrasana, or camel pose, is another great chest opener (and heart opener as well). Many teachers will plan to focus on […]